S'pore- Bintan- Batam (part1)

ok, my blog is dead. DEADDddddd... I decided to post some of my past trips to keep it alive =p Well, I can't really remember the details of the trip anymore but I'll write whatever I can recall alright??? and yeah... sorry for not posting anything these few days as I'm currently working really hard to wrap up my last bit of work for this semester and off I go, back to KL to have some goOd rest. ;)

Last year, I managed to grabbed some super cheap air ticket to Singapore both from Air Asia and Firefly. So basically, I flew Air Asia from LCCT- Changi and Changi- Subang Skypark with Firefly. You might be wondering why am I doing this? Wouldn't it be better to just stick with one airline?

Okay, many of you may already know that I love to try out new stuff. Yes, one of my reasons for doing this is to have different kind of experience while travelling. However, many of you may also know that I'm just only a student, a very poor student indeed... :( so, the ultimate reason for this is actually for the sake of saving money! It is essential for us to understand the price structure before we purchase anything. BE a SAVVY consumer! One of the differences between flying both airlines is actually the amount of airport tax that we are actually paying. I was surprised to realised that although Air Asia is a budget airline, but they are not using the Budget Terminal in Changi Airport instead of Terminal 1. On the other hand, Firefly is one of the few airlines operating from the Budget Terminal. This means that if you are flying from LCCT to Singapore, you are actually paying cheaper airport tax unless you choose to fly from the more convenient and comfortable Subang Skypark( higher tax) with Firefly or even private jet. Well, if you are flying from Singapore to KL, the price structure is the other way round. Since Air Asia is not utilizing the Budget Terminal, passengers are expected to pay higher airport tax, whereas Firefly passenger can pay cheaper airport tax because they are using the Budget Terminal. HOWEVER, Air Asia does not charge the so called admin fee like Firefly. So, please compare and spend your money wisely base on your budget, purposes and needs before you purchase your air ticket. Alternatively, you can also fly other airlines from KLIA like MAS or Silkair. I guess Tiger Airways is actually the only airline at the moment operating both LCCT and Budget Terminal. Confusing? Well, there is always another travel option which is equally or some say better way to travel to Singapore, like coach bus(consider these few: aeroline/ Odyssey/ Five Stars).

Few of my buddies from Penang- Chong Wee, Hui ling and Huan Sheng decided to join me after knowing that I'm going to Singapore ;)

As I've no bloody idea why am I going to Singapore AGAIN, -.- I decided to spend my 1st 2 days at the adjacent Indonesian island of Bintan and Batam and the last day in Singapore. Once we've reached the city state's airport, we immediately took a taxi to the ferry terminal in Tanah Merah which took us only around 10 minutes from the airport.

The Tanah Merah ferry terminal is where we board our ferry to Bintan Island. There were heaps of Singaporean boarding to Pulau Bintan as it is a very famous destination for them to seek some relaxation with whole lot of resort accommodation awaits them.YES, you can simply use SGD dollar instead of Rupiah in this resort island but I guess it's still cheaper to pay in Rupiah though.

Since we're pretty tight in budget and there is nothing much to do in this island, we decided to go further south to seek for cheaper accommodation. We came into this "resort" (sorry, can't remember the name, pretty simple but cozy place to stay) and picked two chalets. (who said it's a budget tour?! O.o)

Huan Sheng busy snapping photos

our chalet looks exactly like this

The balcony of my chalet

Simple right?



This is our bed <3Huan Sheng <3



The hallway



The one on the right is our room

As I said before, Bintan is a resort island. There is nothing much you can do here. However, you can choose to pamper yourself with a nice spa/massage or make full use of all the facilities in your own resort.

Since our resort is a bit "bahliah", we decided to hop on to the resort's "shuttle bus" to their sister resort to fill up our time.
We made a reservation for an hour foot massage in the evening and head straight to a restaurant in the resort for dinner.

resort's "shuttle bus" coooL eyh?

Pretty empty

Took some picture before we head back to our room

Bridge to the restaurant



XD sorry sorry.. trying to act cool.. heh

We took a few pictures from our quiet resort at night. Hah! This is what I called kampung feel~

Resort's reception



Our Chalet

Wooden chalet! fooah! I love this ;)

The next morning, we woke up before dawn to capture some pictures as the scenery was magnificient!

From balcony:

Ourside:

The next morning, the taxi driver reached our resort on the appointed time and off we go to the western part of the island. This time we boarded a small boat to Batam Island!

One last shot before we leave



pik CHA time!

to be continued...